Gas-engine



(NoMod e1.)

' J. 85 W. PATERSON.

GAS ENGINE.

N0. 528,489. Patented Oct; 30,1894.

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ITE STATE-S; PA

Price.

GAS-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 528,489, datedOctober 30, 1894. 7 A plication filed J 14, 1894. Serial No. 514,547. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JAMES PATERYSON and WILLIAM PA'IERSON, citizens of the United' States, residing at Stockton, San Joaquin 7 Figure 1 is a vertical section taken through the engine. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the valve gear. Fig. 4 .1s a section on line yy of Fig. 3 looking to ward. the drive shaft. Fig. 5 is a View, showing the igniting device.

In the construction of our engine we em ploy two cylinders A A abuttingv against each other at one end and having their axes sectional in line. B B are pistons adapted to recipro cate in these cylinders. The piston B has a connecting. rod 0 extending from it directly to the crank D. The piston B has a connecting rod E uniting with the lower end of the rocker arm F. The upper end of this arm is connected by a rod or pitman G with the crank or with the connecting rod 0 at a point near the crank. The cylinders are surrounded by the usual water chambers to prevent too great an increase in heat. Each cylinder is chambered at the inner end, and has valve mechanism by which the explosive gas or vapor is admitted and also a valve mechanism by which the products of combustion are allowed to exhaust. The valves so act with relation to each other and the movements of the pistons, that each piston is acted upon alternately. present case, are puppet valves.

H is one of the inlet valves having a valve stem I extending out'through the end of the Valve chamber and having fixed upon it, near its end, the collars J and K. Surrounding this stem is a yoke L through which the valve stem movesfreely. Between this yoke and the valve chamber is a spring M which-acts normally to press the yoke L outwardly against the collar K, and thus retain the in- The valves, as shown in the.

let valve normally closed. The collar J is fixed to the valve stem in the open space'bev tween the ends'of the yoke as shown.

Nis an eccentric upon a counter-shaft N which is driven by gears N from the engine shaft, and O is an eccentric rod which has an upturned end P adapted toengage a corresponding spur P"projecting from the yoke L,-so that when the "shaft revolves, the eccentric acting against an anti-friction roller u pon the end of the eccentric rod, forces the rod forward, and when the spur P engages the spur P, the 'yoke L is moved. As this yoke slides freely upon the valve stem I, it will be 7 manifest that the'valve H will notvbe opened by this movement, but it is relieved from the pressure of the spring so that it can be opened by the suction caused by the movementfof the piston in the cylinder, and thus admit an explosive charge. 7 The exhaust valve Q has a stem R extending out from the valve chamber parallelwit-h the stem I and passing through a swinging yoke S which is fulcrumed as shown at U and connected with an arm V which is actuated by the governor as will be hereinafter described. The yoke S has an opening at the top'through which the valve stem I passes, and another at the bottom throughwhich the valve stem R passes. L

W is a collar fixed" upon the end of the valve stem R and between this and the end of, the valve chamber is a'springZ which normally acts'like the spring M of the valve stem I to keep the valve closed. This valve stem R and the connected valve are forced inwardly so as to open the exhaust valve by the arm a fixed to and actuated by the cocentric rod 0 from theeccentric d fixedupon the counter-shaft adjacent to theecce ntric N which operates the inlet valve. Springs e serve to return these eccentric rods and their connections as soon as the'eccentrics are retracted, they being simply forced forward by the pressure of the eccentric andretracted by the action of the spring as no eccentric straps are used. The arm or yoke S hasfixed to itaspur T. f

fis an arm fixed to the arm a and havinga hook at the end as sh'ownat 'h'which is adapted to engage the spur Trwhenever the yoke S has been raised by the action of the governor until the spur T is in line with the hook it. This spur projects above the bottom of the lower opening in the yoke S for this purpose.

Vhen the engine is running in its normal condition, the rotation of the shaft acting through the eccentrics N and d and the eccentric rods and yokes L allow the inlet valves to open to admit a charge of explosive gas or vapor, as above described, which is compressed in the usual manner, and exploded to force the pistons outward from the inner ends of the cylinders, and the exhaust valve is correspondingly opened by its eccentric and connecting mechanism to allow the escape of the products of combustion after the explosion has taken place, and the piston is returning to the valved end of the cylinder. If the engine begins to run faster than is desired, the action of the governor upon the arm V raises the yoke S until the spur T comes in line with the hook h, and as the cocentric d advances the arm a carrying the hook h, the latter will be engaged by the spur T and will be held in this position and prevented from moving backward when the eccentric passes away from it. In this position, as the arm a presses upon the valve stem R, the exhaust valve will remain open and the upper end of the yoke S will be caused by the pressure upon it to swing to one side so that it will press against the collar J, and thus prevent the inlet valve from being opened by the action of the piston, although the movements of the eccentric N, eccentric rod 0, arm P and yoke L still continue. Whenever the speed of the engine decreases sufficiently to allow the governor to act and depress the yoke S, the hook it will be disengaged from the spur T, and the parts will then be in position to act normally again.

The igniting device consists of an arm t having a projection at t" at the lower end against which the piston forms contact at the instant when it has returned so as to compress the gas or vapor in the explosion chamber at the inner end of the cylinder. This arm t' is fulcrumed as shown at j in the lower part of a vertical chamber which extends upward from the top of the cylinder. Above the fulcrum point j the arm 2' is made very much thinner so as to form a spring as shown at '5 this spring portion extending into the upper part of the chamber It so as to be out of reach of the direct heat caused by the explosion of the gas, and this preserves its spring temper and prevents its being so heated as to lose it. The upper end of the elastic arm t lies between the meeting ends of two screws m which enter the chamber from opposite sides, and these screws serve to adjust the arm 73 1? about its fulcrum point 3' so as to advance or retract the contact end 'i. It will be seen that by this adjustment the contact between the piston which is connected with one of the electrodes of the ex ploding battery, and the arm t' which acts with the other electrode, is regulated so that the explosion may take place sooner or later as desired.

The chamber 7: has a flange k by which it is secured upon the top of the cylinder, and this is insulated from the cylinder, itself, by suitable insulating disks or plates, as shown, the chamber 70 being sufficiently smaller than the opening in which it is fitted to prevent any contact with the cylinder, itself, so that one electrode being connectedwith this chamber the electricalcurrent will pass through it and the arm *5 while the other electrode can be connected with the piston in any suitable or desired manner.

lhe peculiar connection of the piston rod E with the crank D by means of the oscillating arm F, causes the two pistons to reciprocate to and from each other, so that the explosion taking place alternately in each of the cylinders when the pistons are nearest together, will act through the connecting rods and rocker arms upon the crank and crank shaft, and an impulse is given the crank at each revolution, instead of every second revolution as in the ordinary operation of this class of engines.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An explosive engine consisting of two cylinders abutting against each other with their axes in the same line, pistons reciprocating therein, one of said pistons having a connecting rod uniting it directly with the crank upon the crank shaft, and the other connected with one end of a centrally fulcrnmed oscillating lever, the opposite end of which is connected with the crank, whereby the pistons reciprocate simultaneously to and from each other and the power of both isapplied to the crank.

2. An explosive engine consisting of the cylinders, connecting rods and crank united, as shown, independent inlet and exhaust valves having valve stems and springs by which they are normally closed, the countershaft, eccentrics upon the counter-shaft with eccentric rods and arms adapted to'engage the exhaust valve stems and open the valves, an intermediate yoke slidingupon the inlet valve stem and moved by an eccentric to compress the valve closing spring and allow the valve to be opened by the vacuum caused by the piston.

3. In an explosive engine,a piston reciprocating in the cylinder, an inlet valve having the stem extending out through the end of the valve chamber, a yoke sliding loosely upon the valve stem and a spring intermediate between the yoke and the valve chamber whereby the valve is normally closed, an eccentric upon a counter-shaft driven by the main engine shaft, an eccentric rod adapted to engage the yoke to cause it to reciprocate and compress the spring to allow the valve to be opened by the vacuum produced by the movement of the piston, an exhaust valve having a spring surroundingits stem whereby it is normally closed, an eccentric rod and contact piece whereby the exhaust valve stem is moved to open the valve as the engine shaft revolves, an arm or yoke hinged at the lower end and connected with the governor so as to be raised or lowered by its action, said yoke having a spur upon it which engages with a hook upon the exhaust actuating eccentric rod whereby the latter is held out of contact with its actuating eccentric during the engagement, and the upper end of the yoke is tilted so as to engage a collar upon the inlet valve stem to prevent the inlet valve from being opened.

4. An explosive engine having a cylinder, a piston reciprocating therein, a crank shaft and crank with which it is connected, inlet valves for the admission of the explosive vapor and an exhaust valve for the discharge of the products of combustion, and an igniting device consisting of an arm fulcrumed so as to extend into the cylinder and form contact with the piston when the latter approaches the explosion chamber, a hollow tending transversely outward from the cylinder into which the elastic end of saidarm projects, and screws entering said chamber from opposite sides whereby the arm is moved about its fulcrum point so that contact with the piston is regulated.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

JAMES PATERSON. WILLIAM PATERSON.

Witnesses to J as. Paterson:

S. H. NOURSE, II. F. ASOHEOK.

Witnesses to Wm. Paterson:

MATTIE K-IDDLE, CHARLES H. LEE. 

